…state govt yet to dialogue with labour, fourdays to end of ultimatum givenLeaders of Labour unions in Kogi State have
debunked claims by Kogi State Government
the signatories to the strike notice are
unknown labour leaders.
In an exclusive chat with Kogireports, the
Kogi State Secretary of Trade Union
Congress (TUC), Comrade Kolawole James
and State Secretary of Nigeria Labour
Congress (NLC), Comrade Faniyi, the labour
leaders wondered why the Director General
on Media and Publicity to the Governor,
Kingsley Fanwo, alleged that the notice of
strike letter was signed by unknown labour
leaders.
Fanwo, in his response to the strike notice,
alleged that none of the signatories to the
letter was a civil servant. He said the
signatories were not the union leader the
state government had been relating with.
However, the TUC Scribe debunked the
allegations as being far from the truth. He
noted that the signatories are well know
labour leaders who had at one time or the
other related with the state government.
“As the Secretary of TUC, I have had cause
to exchange correspondence with the state
government on several occasions. I was part
of the first staff screening committee
headed by Paul Okuntimo. I also served, as
representative of Labour, in the final
screening committee. To say I and other
signatories are unknown labour leaders is
not true.
“Secretaries of labour unions are not civil
servants, they are employees of the Union
seconded to different state to manage their
respective secretariats. It is the duty of
Union secretaries to sign correspondence
from the secretariat.
“The government should rather focus on the
demands contained in the strike notice and
find ways to meet the demands to avert
industrial action. As we speak, the state
government has not reached out to Labour
to discuss how they will meet our demands.
However, we met with the committee
constituted by the State House of Assembly
on Thursday and we tabled our demands
before it.
“We stand by our demands that workers’
July and August salaries must be paid. This
is basic. Some workers in the state are owed
19 months salary as at today. Just
yesterday, we were informed that the
Principal of Community Secondary School,
Ayere, Mr. Musari Rahman, who has not
been paid salary in the last 19 months has
passed away. This is just one of the many
unfortunate reports we get from workers
across the state.
“We also demand that government rescind
its decision on clocking in and out policy in
the public service of Kogi state, which aims
at casualising the service on daily pay basis.
This negates the provisions of National
Councils on Establishment’s principles and
practices guiding the civil service in the
country,” he said.
Kolawole assured civil servants in the state
of the Labour leaders’ commitment to their
welfare.